Myanmar election delivers walkover win for military-backed political party

Myanmar’s subject rulers accidental polls were escaped and just arsenic UN reports 170 killed successful aerial attacks during predetermination period.

Myanmar’s military-backed enactment secured a sweeping triumph successful the country’s three-phase wide election, according to authorities media, pursuing the tightly controlled voting held amid civilian warfare and wide repression.

The last of three rounds of voting past play wrapped up an predetermination that began connected December 28, much than 4 years aft the subject seized powerfulness successful a coup that overturned the elected authorities of Aung San Suu Kyi.

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Dominating each phases of the vote, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won an overwhelming bulk successful Myanmar’s 2 legislative chambers, authorities media reports.

The USDP secured 232 of the 263 seats up for grabs successful the little location and 109 of the 157 seats announced truthful acold successful the precocious chamber, according to results released connected Thursday and Friday.

A spokesperson for the country’s subject rulers, Zaw Min Tun, said Myanmar’s parliament is present expected to convene to elite a president successful March, with a caller authorities acceptable to instrumentality implicit successful April, according to a study successful the pro-military Eleven Media Group.

Myanmar, formerly known arsenic Burma, has been successful governmental turmoil since the 2021 coup, with the crushing of pro-democracy protests prompting a nationwide rebellion. Thousands person been killed, and astir 3.6 cardinal radical person been displaced, according to the United Nations.

Local newspapers diagnostic headlines covering the decision of Myanmar’s wide predetermination connected January 26, 2026, successful Yangon, Myanmar [Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images]

‘Vote purely retired of fear’

The 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has said it will not endorse Myanmar’s electoral process, and quality rights groups and immoderate Western countries person besides expressed concerns astir the credibility of the election.

The UN quality rights bureau said that ample segments of the population, including minorities specified arsenic ethnic Muslim-majority Rohingya, were excluded from voting since they person been denied citizenship, and galore person besides been displaced extracurricular the country.

At slightest 170 civilians were killed successful aerial strikes during the predetermination period, and astir 400 radical were arrested, according to the UN.

“Many radical chose either to ballot oregon not to ballot purely retired of fear,” UN quality rights main Volker Turk said.

Myanmar’s subject rulers importune the polls were escaped and fair, and supported by the public.

A spokesperson for the United States Department of State, which has muted its critiques of overseas elections successful the 2nd Trump administration, said it was monitoring the concern and “will measure the subject regime’s adjacent steps”.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy was dissolved on with dozens of different parties, and immoderate others declined to instrumentality part, drafting condemnation from critics who accidental the process was designed to legitimise subject rule.

Under Myanmar’s governmental system, the subject is besides guaranteed 25 percent of parliamentary seats, ensuring continued power adjacent if powerfulness is formally transferred to a civilian-led administration.